Parliamentary Library Blog

Former ALP Fisheries Minister, Senator Joe Ludwig, has introduced a private member’s bill that will permit the Federal Government to require assessment of new fishing ventures such as large trawlers. The sunset clause in present legislation meant that such powers expired in September 2013. Read more...

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Tony Burke, has moved amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC) Act. This will give the Government the powers to prevent the trawler, Abel Tasman, from fishing in Australian waters for up to two years while a scientific study on its impacts is carried out. The major issues with the vessel are its large size and fishing capability, which far exceeds any other fishing vesse... Read more...

The Commonwealth is proposing the proclamation of 44 new marine reserves covering a total of 2.34 million square kilometres by the end of the year. The move has drawn criticism from fisheries bodies for excluding fishing in substantial areas of the ocean; at the other end of the spectrum, some conservation bodies were disappointed that the government had not banned oil and gas exploration in areas adjacent to existing marine parks. The proposal for 44 new reserves was released on 14 June 2012 as... Read more...